Evolution: David Duchovny Mocking The Role That Made Him

I have to admit when the X-files phenomenon was sweeping the nation I was kind of out of the loop. In more recent years I've been lucky enough to glance at a couple of episodes and much to my dismay found that it seemed to be a breeding ground for up and coming actors includitng Jack Black and Giovanni Ribsi in one episode alone. Sadly I've never understood David Duchovny's appeal as a dramatic actor because he sounds the same with almost every line that he delivers. That's why I was surprised that I enjoyed this movie the first time around. Once again this was a movie viewed in the company of sleep deprived others and I can't say I have a proper assessment movie. So needless to say when I saw this available for less than three bucks I jumped at the chance and realized it was directed by the guy who gave us Ghostbusters. Now with my expectations probably usually high I began to watch this sci-fi comedy.

The date unspecified and the place is a random community in the middle of Arizona where professors Ira (Duchovny) and Harry (Orlando Jones) have stumbled across life from another planet that is evolving at an alarming rate. Aka that monkey to man chart in a day rather than millions of years. Before the two men can investigate further the government comes in and shuts the two friends out and now it's up to them along with a klutzy government scientist (Julianne Moore) and a wannabe fireman (Sean William Scott) to figure out what is going on and eventually destroy the alien menace.

The first thing I wondered when I watched this movie was what critics thought about it so I wandered to rotten tomatoes to see what the critics thought and to my dismay saw that the movie had a 41 percent and that they said the movie felt too much like Ghostbusters. I then decided it was my personal goal to disprove this theory or at the very least test it.

Test #1: Presence of smart ass scientists. This is a resounding yes. Orlando Jones' character in particular feels a lot like Peter Venkman because he has a very poor work ethic and particular focus on his female students feels like something I had certainly seen before. Duchovny's character however is a little bit different. Is he a smart-ass? Yes but aside from being a truly interested scientist. He's a once great scientist with a painful and rather humorous back story.

Test #2: Female lead. Every one of these movies needs to have an attractive female lead and this time it's Julianne Moore who is clearly slumming it for this film rather than her usual Oscar worthy fare. Here is a definitive difference. Unlike Sigourney Weaver miss Moore's character is a giant nerd and seems to be a part of the boys club that constitutes our heroes. There's also hints the entire time that she would be interested in our hero Ira.

Test #3: Nature of disaster. Sadly this one also feels a lot like Ghostbusters. The alien scum that eventually shows up is mean and shows up in dinosaur like creatures and you guessed it a small green one that is more threatening that it would seem. The threat level is also equally high because it's a our entire world is in trouble kind of scenario. Even how the disaster is handled feels a lot like Ghostbusters. A government man comes in a makes the situation worse and the heroes have to talk to "the man in charge" in this case a hilarious Dan Akroyd doing the director Reitman a favor before pulling a plan out of their butt.

Test #4: Supporting characters. Here it does feel a little bit different. No one here even resembles Rick Moranis and the only guy who plays a major role that isn't a scientist is Sean William Scott who essentially just plays the guy from Dude Where's My Car, but with a more ambitious I wanna be a firefighter side. The "bad guys" are also present from about a third of the way through the movie rather than the very end so we already know they're gonna screw the pooch. Oh and the main guy is the guy that played Buffalo Bill.

So while it's not a resounding this movie ripped off Ghostbusters it is very easy to why a lot of reviewers felt that way. But to that I say if something works why not do it again with different characters? The interplay between Duchovny and everyone else reveals his comedic acting chops. He also manages to pull off actually being smooth and funny without feeling like he's not really smooth. There's a score of great cameos from the guy that plays Farva in Super Troopers and Sarah Silberman.

This movie is not going to rock anyone's world but it's funny and random enough to watch at least once through. I will say the ideal time is probably when you're awake at two in the morning and will laugh at anything out of the ordinary and ordinary alike but nevertheless it wasn't a poor investment at two fifty.